From the West Side Suburban News. Spencerport Edition. "Why I am opposed to Renovation at St. Johns" Many of St. Johns parishioners, perhaps 400 plus, desire maintenance and restoration of their solid - stone and brick - English Gothic church. By restoration, they mean what restoration means -- replacing wornout material such as carpets, cleaning and repairing windows and doors, and painting where necessary. They also want and are willing to pay for making the church, inside and out, fully handicapped accessible. They want however that these desirable changes be done without altering the basic structure and character of their beautiful, 86 year old edifice. This so-called renovation is what concerns people who have belonged to St. Johns for many years and treasure its many familiar artifacts. Altars, beautiful statues, and other art works, many of which were donated as memorials, are all subject to being rearranged or discarded. Even the tabernacle, the focus point of a sacramental church, will be removed from its central, prominent place within the sanctuary. So too, parts of interior walls will be dismantled to make a side chapel for the tabernacle, when in reality our little country church is like a chapel. In addition a costly, so-called gathering space - actually a glorified hallway--is proposed to be erected on the Martha Street side of the church. [see sidewalk left of chapel] It is these costly, unwanted, and unnecessary renovations that people object to and have no intention to pay for. Frank Ferris [parishioner and "Friends of St. John" member]

West Side Suburban News-Spencerport Edition Reported on 12/17/01 "Village Zoning Board denies St. John's Church requested variances" The Spencerport Zoning Board of Appeals held a special meeting on November 29 to discuss the proposed controversial renovations of St. John's Church in Spencerport. To accommodate the large crowd the meeting was held at the Spencerport Fire Hall on Lyell Ave. The application for variances needed for construction of an addition to the masonry at the corner of Martha and Amity Streets was denied. The decision was 5-0 against granting the variances. According to the resolution passed by the board, denial was based on the fact that a change would be undesirable in the neighborhood and a detriment to nearby properties. The board noted that "the proposed addition would be too close to Martha Street for safety and well-being of pedestrians." Martha Street residents had signed a letter expressing their concerns about the proposed addition: "St. John's is a beautiful English/Gothic Church,' they wrote, "why destroy this 'architectural gem' by attaching an addition that is not necessary and that was never intended?" End of report. [it needs to be noted that this was the third meeting of the Zoning Board on this matter. Astonished parishioners were told two weeks later that the leadership of St. John's will re-approach the Zoning Board in an attempt to get approval for this variance that would allow them to add 10' by 40' to the left wall of the church. This is another example of the modernist willingness to self-destruct their integrity and reputations as they pursue their reckovation of the transcendent.]